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Keak Vallian
Lord Keak Vallian is a long-retired war hero and famous strategist of the Great War era, having served the Alliance of Lordaeron as a Commander and later Lt. General throughout the Second and Third Wars. While officially resigning his position at the close of the Third War, Lord Vallian has continued to provide his services in an advisory position to Alliance High Command in every major conflict following; giving him perhaps one of the most wide-spanning careers of military service among humanity and soundly securing his place in the works of military historians. Recently Lord Vallian has emerged from retirement and declared himself for the Aurelian Empire, the border of which has recently reached his own remaining holdings. It is as of yet unknown what the venerable Margrave's views are of the modern day Alliance, having now sworn himself to an independent nation. Physical Description The Margrave of Vallenhall has always been an unassuming man at a glance. Never blessed with a bulky frame or towering height, Keak Vallian could hardly strike fear into the heart or inspire great courage simply at a glance. He stands roughly five feet, nine inches- placing him below many of his peers through life and considerably below his more recent Elven allies. His facial features speak of nobility and rough command once inspected, a strong jawline and broad chin giving him an imposing enough resting expression to compensate for his height. Additionally, the Lord's nose is bent ever-so-slightly to the right; likely a sign of an early breaking which set improperly. He keeps his hair trimmed well, loosely swept backwards. His beard is trimmed close rather than growing out as well, in general giving a relaxed, yet up-kept appearance. The Margrave's hair has maintained a youthful chestnut hue well into his twilight years as well, only beginning to grey over his temples, and in a stripe from the underside of his chin. Based purely on vision, the Margrave of Vallenhall hardly seems like much more than a relatively stoic older gentleman. This changes immensely once he is interacted with in person. That ethereal quality, so difficult to put words to, which drives men to fanaticism for a dictator is fostered well in Keak. He is a master orator and expertly utilizes his naturally charismatic air and deep intonations to sway hearts and minds. His posture is excellent and accompanied by his body language often serves to subconsciously cow others who look to oppose him in a debate. Most often however, Lord Vallian utilizes this control over the way he is perceived to build an air of warmth and fatherly authority. Personality Sir Vallian is a man of many layers, as most leaders are. One might find he speaks an entirely different language to his men and wears an unrecognizable face before his enemies. However, all men have constants, truths of their personal self that cannot be changed regardless of circumstance. In the case of Keak Vallian, there are two such truths. The first is that he holds a deep and abiding love for his people. Disregarding pretense or posturing, Keak will never miss a chance to interact with his soldiers in every way from gambling to drinking to singing. He revels in the sharing of tales and trading of friendly blows between brothers in arms, and will almost always prefer the role of father figure to that of the drill master. Throughout all that he does, this love and comradeship with his people is more or less half of Sir Vallian's motivation. It is seen in everything about his person, and it fills the public face that he presents to the world. The second is barely known outside of the Margrave's inner circle, and is the truth that his public character serves to distract from. In his heart of hearts, Sir Vallian loves war. He does not have any particular pleasure or distaste for the act of killing itself; but for the combination of these parts. Of planning, execution, battle, and conquest. Brought together, these form the concept of war within Sir Vallian's mind, and no maiden is more desirable to him than this cruel mistress of broken blades and bloody armor. He lives and breathes to see foes brought to heel, to challenge his tactical wit against a challenging enemy. To see the Margrave speak of war and battle is to hear a man speak of his true love, of the soulmate he was destined from birth to embrace. In terms of religion, the Margrave will often tactfully avoid directly answering questions as to his personal faith. If pressed, he will passingly claim to belong to a small, local variant of Light worship. Frequently this will deter further questions, leading others to ultimately believe the Lord Vallian is- at least tangentially- a follower of the Church of the Holy Light. In reality, Keak is actually a devout member of the Cindic Reach; Vallenhall's resident religious order which promotes ancestor worship and reverence of flame. History Early History Born in the middle of February in 554 by the King's Calendar, Keak Vallian's birth was not marked by any complication or incident. Given unto William and Larissa Vallian, very much of the young heir's life was spent in peaceful solitude. Groomed very early on to accept leadership with stoicism and grace, he received a fine formal education in history and the arts as they were at this time. In these earliest days, his tutors and parents began to receive the first reassuring indications that the young boy had a head for leadership. Keak took to civil management with a clear and far-seeing mind. From the age of fourteen, he was given nominal responsibility over less important aspects of administration within Vallenhall. The cleanliness and upkeep of border towers and forts, the presentation and maintenance of warhorses' gear, as well as the upkeep of arms and armor in defensive forts. The young Vallian took to these things like a fish to water; his mind worked out perfectly in what proportions things ought to be done, with what regularity, and by which soldiers. He had a tendency even at this young age to go in person, meeting and speaking to workmen and guards alike, establishing personal relationships- and on a smaller level, profiling them. It was also, however, at this time that his parents were given reason to worry for their son. He had begun to take a particular interest in the logistics of war and the mobilization of amassed armed forces. Such is, on its own, little to draw much notice. However, the young heir had throughout the course of his otherwise benign duties already begun steadily advancing his home towards these things. Soldiers kept sharper watch of their arms and armor after a visit from the young man to their outpost, drills were run tighter, willingness and readiness to enter combat heightened. By his presence and hand in management, even of the lesser faculties of an armed force, the young Keak gradually tilted men towards his will. Such was his budding charisma and infectious passion for martial discipline and the affairs of the battlefield. Rumor is held that during a feast held with assorted officers, the young heir asked a question of the Margrave. "Father, why do we keep so many soldiers and weapons?" Charmed by the innocence of the inquiry, William responded with a wave of his hand and a jovial tone. "To protect our home and people, son!" Keak pondered a moment or two on his father's words, young hands folded over his lap. At last, he responded in a voice one might adopt when explaining the obvious to a child. "Walls would suit us better then. Swords are made to kill, father. Soldiers are made to wield them." Whether or not such an exchange truly occurred is impossible for anyone other than Keak himself to verify, as is often the case with such rumors and tales. What is indisputable however is that an impression was made on William quite early on, for four short years later, the Margrave did the unheard of: He abdicated his seat, allowing Keak to ascend to the office of Margrave of Vallenhall at the age of eighteen. Great War Era For twenty years, Keak prepared. Whether he felt it in his bones that a great war was coming or he intended to spark one himself is ultimately unclear and impossible to know. All the same, the preparations occurred. From the most basic of levels upwards, Vallenhall's military was reformed. A strong foundation had always existed, but the new Margrave instilled hither-to unseen levels of fanatic discipline within his men and drilled with such relentless efficiency as to produce unparalleled soldiers; men who would never bend, never break. Utilizing strict discipline combined with Keak's unique brand of personal interaction, the fighting men and women of Vallenhall had become the best instruments of war that the Margrave could hope to produce. They were determined, loyal, fearless, and resourceful; Keak could not have been more proud of them, or of his efforts. Fortune smiled on him as, almost as if a reward for his diligence, refugees of fallen Stormwind began arriving in the north and speaking of horrendous beasts fit to topple all Humanity. Once mighty and respected Lothar arrived, speaking of much the same and petitioning Terenas Menethil II for an alliance, the Margrave knew his time had at last come. When the call was sounded and the banners of Lordaeron raised, none could have possibly raised their own more eagerly than Sir Vallian. Those close to the Lord would later claim that never before had the man seemed so truly alive and energetic as in these early days of the Second War, at last finding the opportunity to unleash his pent up forces upon a true foe. Initially, the Margrave had intended to rally his troops and march southward to meet the brunt of the coming Orcish assault. Much to his surprise- and by some accounts, sincere joy- the Orcish Horde were more clever than at first they had seemed. By sea, a truly conquest-bent army landed in the north, ready to strike out at the same time as the southern Horde campaign. This northern assault would later be known as where the worst of the fighting occurred, as well as where the Orcish Horde most famously employed its captive Red Dragons. Unable to march south with such an immediate threat to the homeland presenting itself, the Margrave changed his approach. One attendant to the Margrave's court would later quote him as having said, "I'll see the fields below us ablaze before I let one Orc through my pass." As with many things often attributed to the Margrave, the accuracy of the quote cannot be confirmed. If true however, he certainly made good on this claim. Through the entirety of the northern campaign, never once did an Orc pass through Vallenhall's mountains. So thorough was Vallenhall's defense that after Alterac's betrayal of the Alliance, it stood as the single point along Lordaeron's border which could not be broken by Orcish intrusion. The fullness of the siege of the capital city came underway without so much as a true chip in Vallenhall's defensive lines. Upon the historic turning of the siege and retreat of the Orcish Horde, the Margrave was at last free to unleash the fullness of his fury. During the southward march of the Horde, Vallenhall's riders endlessly assailed them. The Margrave rode with his men, scorching and pulling apart every attempt the Horde made at leaving fortification in their wake. Had one witnessed the march of the Horde from the sky, one would have likely mistaken the Vallian men for part of the Horde; such was how closely they followed the terrible host. It was in this time that the Margrave came to be known by his wartime title. His riders steadily consuming the Horde in retreat, leaving nothing behind them, recruiting and integrating the broken pieces of other Human armies as they went; in this way, his men seemed to be a living flame that ate away at the Orcish Horde. Thus was Sir Vallian dubbed 'The Wildfire of the North'. All the way south into Khaz Modan, Vallian men were at the heels of the horde, sweeping them away and riding at the head of the growing Alliance army on its rebound. As the northern Orcish force rejoined with its base of power, one would have expected the battles to become more pitched and less centered on pursuit. It is here that Commander Vallian earned his reputation as a visionary strategist. Even presented with the Horde attempting to stand its ground, his command remained as aggressive as before. Integrated Dwarven units of artillery would relentlessly assail enemy lines, while infantry marched in perfect ranks forward. Never once did a Vallian man break against a wild Orcish counter-charge; yet never did Sir Vallian waste men against their brutal onslaught. For every offensive action an Orcish force took, the Margrave seemed to have prepared three steps backwards, and devastating cavalry charges to knock the wild Orcish soldiers back from his line. This is often regarded as Sir Vallian's primary contribution to Alliance strategy. Rather than pitting powerful infantry against powerful infantry, as had often been done with Paladin to Death Knight and armored Knight to Orcish berserker, Keak integrated soldiers of mixed weaponry into single formations; recognizable in the modern day as mixed unit tactics, yet unheard of at this time. His infantry were lightly armored and comprised of a mixture of swordsmen, pikemen, and Dwarven riflemen. Pikes and swords firmly, slowly, relentlessly advanced. An enemy who remained defensive would be peppered by Dwarven artillery and rifle fire. An enemy who charged would be met with braced pikes, and a swift cavalry counter-attack to the flanks. Proving himself to be not only a master of field tactics as they were then understood, the Margrave also showed he was a forward-minded fellow, and a pioneer of what would become modern strategy. Beyond this, he never once over-expended men or resources. Always careful of his foraging, and of the establishment of supply lines in his wake, Sir Vallian displayed a keen mind in general for the management of armies and the prosecution of war. Thus at the culmination of this, the Battle of Blackrock, the Vallian forces were some of the best organized, most well-fed, and least ragged of the assembled Alliance attackers. This legendary battle devolved more or less into a large-scale skirmish, though the Vallian men maintained formation, utilizing repeated volleys from their rifles, charges from pike and sword, and withdrawals under cover of artillery. This was also the only battle in which the Margrave himself led from the front, in the thick of battle with his men. By report, he displayed fair talent with his preferred longsword, though he never engaged in any particularly epic feats of swordplay or heroism. Third War and the Fall Following the destruction of the Dark Portal and the loss of many of the Alliance's great heroes and commanders, Keak returned to his ancestral home in the north with his greatly bolstered forces. The return trip saw the mopping up of many left-overs of the Horde, and during this time some of the Margrave's wartime host began to depart for their homes. However, much of the host had grown loyal to the Margrave in their time together, and would remain with him all the way to Vallenhall. Upon his return- now with a greatly bolstered force- Keak set about organizing and utilizing these men. It was at this time that his forces could have been considered their greatest, and Sir Vallian at his peak. It is largely due to this that Vallenhall remained as a fire in the dark while plague began to terrify the populace of Lordaeron, and the Third War sapped further attention from the home front. Recognizing the plague as a genuine threat, Keak chose to keep a tight watch and grip on his lands and men, lending himself to the command efforts along with a token force of cavalry in Kalimdor. With the grandeur of he Third War, men brushing shoulders with Elves and utilizing wisp armies to assault Demon Princes, one would assume a strategist would be lacking for work. However, the Third War presented an opportunity for Lord Vallian to display a wider range of tactical inclination. Facing numerically superior forces who also possessed greater weapons and strength, the Margrave quickly adapted to asymmetric warfare. During this time he greatly revolutionized the cavalry he had brought along, applying en masse firearms to mounted men for the first time. Studying from and in some ways improving upon Kaldorei geurilla tactics as well as their nightsaber riders, Lord Vallian perfected fast, vicious cavalry strikes to draw out key Legion command targets and cripple forces before engagements could even truly begin. During this time, Lord Vallian famously led a band of veteran Knights and riders and baited out, before slaying, a Pit Lord. The Commander took one of the great Demon's tusks as a trophy, fashioning it into a cane to aid with an injury he sustained. Following the conclusion of the Third War, Lord Vallian swiftly returned home. At this turning point of history, he sealed his fate. Had he called for his mighty host and abandoned Lordaeron to its fate, he might have carved out a new place for himself in Kalimdor- perhaps a place much greater than his old home. But, unwilling to sacrifice his ancestral lands, the Margrave returned to his seat to face the coming plague. With Keak's watchful eye and strict discipline, Vallenhall remained largely unmolested by the horrors of the plague. All this ultimately accomplished was a slow and painful death rather than a quick and gruesome one. Over the following years, the world around the Margrave would grow dark. While proper discipline kept plague from spreading, men died faster than they were born; and any dead man meant one more foe. All was done that could be done. Vallenhall steadily grew further inward, more defended, more closely guarded... More quiet. Gone were the mighty feasts, the thunder of hooves, the rolling smoke of cannons on the fields. Sir Vallian remained, a bastion of humanity and Light in the Plaguelands to those seeing Vallenhall from the outside. But from within, the decay could be seen. The gradual death could be understood. Although he would go on to lend himself as a military advisor to Alliance High Command for nearly every major conflict to follow, Sir Vallian retired from his rank. Never again would the Wildfire of the North lead a battle. Resigned to history, youthful ambitions dead to time, Sir Vallian accepted his position as a noteworthy strategist of the past; another line in a young scholar's books. Recently After a decade of silence, Keak re-emerged from solitude. The expanding border of the Autarchy of Aurelia reached the remains of Vallenhall's own border, and the Margrave rode to speak in a diplomatic capacity. Before a small group of the Autarchy's officers, and the Empress herself, the Margrave did something genuinely unexpected: He declared the Kingdom he had once owed fealty to dead and gone. With Lordaeron in the past, the Margrave of Vallenhall swore himself to Telriah II Embershield. Accepted- and given access at last to fresh trade and bodies- Vallenhall has begun to spring fully to life and action, and Keak along with it. Perhaps he means only to set right his affairs and household before he passes peacefully. Or, perhaps he intends to burn as fiercely as his final moments will permit, at last unleashing upon the world his conquering will. The days to come will surely prove, one way or another, the sort of man the Margrave truly is. Noteworthy Possessions As is often the case with storied families, the Vallians have a few small treasures of note historically within their possession. * Valiance: The traditional badge of office of the Margrave, as well as the head of the Vallian household, the longsword ''Valiance has a storied history to say the least. By commonly held legend, the blade was a gift for the founder of Vallenhall from a Quel'dorei swordsmith who's life he had saved. Thirty nine inches in length and responsive in the hand, the blade is certainly a well-made sword if nothing else. One must presume that its original hilt fittings have been changed over the two millennia since its supposed original forging, as they are quite well kept at present, with rich red leather on the grip and mirror-polished steel pommel as well as S-curved guard. While Valiance is rumored to be powerfully enchanted- as many Elven blades are- the specific nature of its magical capabilities have never been confirmed for anyone without the privilege to wield it. Valiance is rarely taken from its resting place inside the Holdfast, traditionally only being carried by the Margrave for important ceremonies or extremely noteworthy battles. To date, the last time the blade was worn in public was during Keak Vallian's oath of fealty to Telriah II Embershield. * ''Heraldry of Valor: Perhaps the most closely guarded relic of the Vallian family is the Heraldry of Valor, the supposed original marching banner of their ancestral tribe. Deep crimson in color, hung from a long bronze bar crested by an eagle, the banner proudly carries a golden-inlaid version of the Vallian family crest: a shield embossed with a stylized V, resting atop an upright blade. Whether or not this banner is genuinely as ancient as it is claimed to be cannot be confirmed or denied without close inspection, and no archaeologists have ever been permitted access to it. All the same, it is of great importance to the Vallian family and the people of Vallenhall; most of them would die to protect it, were it to ever be taken to the field. * Mok-Karosh: Taken from an Orcish warrior during the Second War, ''Mok-Karosh is a large battleaxe seemingly forged from one continuous piece of metal rather than component parts of haft and blade. Roughly meaning 'Death of Anguish', the axe carries a peculiar enchantment: wounds inflicted by the weapon cause the target no physical pain. The nature of this enchantment, combined with the impractical weight of the weapon, led Lord Vallian to believe it was intended as a tool of honorable execution for warriors who deserved 'clean' ends. As a result, ''Mok-Karosh ''has been kept on hand for the execution of prisoners of war ever since, often being carried by the Margrave alongside his traditional weaponry. It is only utilized in the field, when there can be no ceremony for execution. For criminals within Vallenhall, hanging is most common: with beheading at the Margrave's hands being reserved for higher crimes. * ''Vallian Plate: Carrying more ceremonial than true historical importance is the favored armor of the Margrave; the Vallian Plate. Due to the ever-changing nature of warfare and armor, as well as the differences in physical build from one Vallian head to the next, the plate has never actually been a single suit of armor for more than a couple generations at a time. Though it is rumored that there is a Vallian family crypt beneath the Holdfast where each prior suit of Vallian Plate is kept, the only readily recognizable one is whichever the current Margrave chooses to wear. While not storied or legendary unto itself, the plate is always an outstanding suit of armor made to exacting physical specifications for each Margrave, as well as any Human armor could be. Official Titles Commendations and Awards While Lord Vallian only held a true position within the Grand Alliance up to the Third War, his periods of advisory employment covered every major successive conflict which the Alliance experienced- making Keak one of the few living men to carry every recognized campaign medal since the Second War, up to the latest one minted for the campaign on Argus. While this legacy of consistent service is impressive, the highest honors Keak has received go to three in particular: The Alliance Commendation for Leadership, High Command Distinguished Service Medal, and that most coveted of honors, the Legion of Valor. The former two were awarded to Lord Vallian for his undefeated leadership during the Second War and his contributions to High Command's codified strategy, respectively. Lord Vallian was not admitted into the ranks of those who hold the Legion of Valor until his unexpected, heroic defeat of a Pit Lord commander during the Third War. On top of the commendations he holds officially, Keak is considered an honorary holder of a few other honors not native to his homeland which he was unable to be awarded officially due to his retirement. Most notably, Keak honorarily holds the Might of Thoradin from Stromgarde for his services in Arathi during the southward march of the Second War, as well as Stormwind's Distinguished Service Cross for his command of largely Stormwindian troops in succesive Alliance campaigns. Quotes Trivia # While Keak is a character all his own, he is loosely based on a number of famous military leaders and monarchs of history. The most notable of these is Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden and the man sometimes called the father of modern war. # Keak is in-universe a published author of a few works. The most notable of these are 'A History of Humanity's Swordplay', 'On Warfare', ''and '''Hounds and Men': A historic treatise on Human swordplay, an overview of grand strategy and field tactics, and an informal guide on hunting Undead respectively. Category:Human Category:Lordaeronian Category:Autarchy of Aurelia Category:Aurelian Military Category:Aurelian Peerage